The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

WELL-KNOWN shark researcher and diver Dr Erich Ritter died in his sleep last Friday at his Florida home. He was 61.

On its Facebook page, SharkSchool, an environmental conservation organisation which he headed, announced his death on Saturday.

“We are paralysed and in deep shock. Yesterday night our beloved friend and shark activist Dr Erich Ritter passed away in his house in Florida,” the post read.

“The shark whisperer, a tower of strength for the sharks. From the bottom of our hearts, that’s how we will remember him.”

In the early 2000s, Dr Ritter famously survived a bull shark bite on his calf in The Bahamas. The incident was captured by Discovery Channel cameras while he and British TV presenter Nigel Marven were standing in shallow waters. The two men were surrounded by sharks circling the shore.

“These sharks could easily take you out so as long as you don’t move and you’re not a threat to them they couldn’t care less,” said Dr Ritter just before footage showed the attack.

According to SharkSchool’s website, he had an interest in shark accidents and their causes and did much of his field research in the Northern Abacos at the Shark Education & Research Centre (SERC).

SharkSchool noted the organisation “teaches divers, snorkelers, rescue swimmers, and others how to interact with sharks, what to look for when entering the water, and most importantly, how to feel safe among sharks.”

Tributes were posted to the shark expert on social media.

“It is with a heavy heart I inform our diving community that Dr Erich Ritter passed away peacefully in his sleep two days ago at his home in Florida,” an Eleuthera resident wrote on Facebook. “It is like someone reached into the shark diving community’s treasure chest of the seven seas and took (its) most valuable asset. Life is so fragile and to paraphrase Erich, ‘if we don’t stop the senseless slaughter of sharks in our oceans, the delicate ecological balance of the oceans will forever be destroyed and take the planet Earth with it.’

“A truly great man who dedicated his life to understanding sharks and promoting shark conservation on a world wide basis; he will never be forgotten and hopefully many others will pick up his torch and carry on as he had always dreamed and spoke of others doing.”

Dr Ritter had a Phd in behavioural ecology from the University of Zurich and was hailed as the world’s only professional applied shark-human interaction specialist. His main expertise was the body language of sharks, with a major interest in shark attacks and their causes.